Foreclosures double in New Bedford
City saves what it can, razes the rest
NEW BEDFORD - An Old World charm accentuates the working-class neighborhoods of this city, with quaint corner stores offering traditional Portuguese items and weathered fishermen heading out for work before the sun rises. But the empty, neglected houses that dot the streets, evidence of the national epidemic of foreclosures, are increasingly a worry for public officials.
The number of foreclosures in this city has more than doubled from about 175 three years ago to about 380 so far this year, many of them in two neighborhoods directly north and south of downtown. City officials, including Mayor Scott Lang, are worried the decaying and often boarded-up houses could sow the seeds of blight, and they have embarked on a plan to take back foreclosed homes, renovating the ones that are salvageable and demolishing those that are too far gone.
"It became clear that we didn't want these houses in the hands of investors sitting thousands of miles away," Lang said during an interview in his office. "These homes are on our blocks, and we wanted to take control before they tarnished the neighborhoods any further. These neighborhoods are defined by the worst house on the street."
In the two neighborhoods hardest hit by the mortgage crisis, drab, hulking three-deckers are packed side by side. Green space is rare, and looping power cables crisscross overhead. But the foreclosed homes stand out, with boarded-up windows, cracking paint, and fire damage in some cases. Lang said the program could help spruce up the neighborhoods and perhaps clear the way for more green space along the densely packed rows of three-deckers.
The city has taken possession of homes in the past and razed them, including 14 in the past two years, but it is now planning to pick up the pace. Next year, at least a dozen foreclosed homes are on the city's demolition list. To save on costs, the city plans to use city employees for the bulk of demolition work, rather than hiring private contractors, who can charge up to a third more than it costs the city to do the job itself.
Patrick J. Sullivan, the director of the city's Office of Housing and Community Development, said the city is working to secure federal and state grant money to finance the renovations and demolitions. In some cases, the city is able to claim properties if substantial back taxes are owed or if the property presents a hazard because it is structurally unstable. The city is in constant negotiations with the banks and investors who own the properties.
Sullivan said the city wants to rehabilitate properties and make them available to first-time home buyers picked from a city lottery list. Recently, the city pumped about $280,000 into a multifamily home on Viall Street and sold it to a first-time buyer. The house had been in foreclosure and was deteriorating because of neglect when the city claimed it off a $45,000 tax lien.
"This is bringing stability to the neighborhood and bringing the house back on the tax roll," Sullivan said, as he toured about a dozen foreclosed homes in two neighborhoods north and south of downtown. Bringing foreclosed homes into community land trusts is another option that city administrators are considering.
Sullivan and other city officials have met with members of the Patrick administration and with US Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, about the foreclosure problem. Frank maintains an office in downtown New Bedford, in the heart of the Fourth Congressional District.
The effort has been warmly received by many residents who see it as a vital step in preserving hard-hit neighborhoods in the city.
"This approach is innovative in building back neighborhoods," said Jim Oliveira, a homeowner, lifelong resident, and program director for a nonprofit work-to-welfare program. "There is such a diversity in our neighborhoods, and there is a pride in homeownership. If we can get more individuals to own and take pride, others will follow, and the neighborhoods will flourish. This is a classic grass-roots effort."
Roy Nascimento, president of the Greater New Bedford Chamber of Commerce, said, "We're glad to see the mayor and the city being proactive with regard to this problem, before it becomes a larger problem or nuisance in the city. New Bedford has undergone an economic rebirth in the last 10 years, so this is helpful to the redevelopment effort, because it helps make the city more attractive."
Rene Harbeck, who has for almost 30 years owned
"That house didn't always look that way. . . . Three years ago it was beautiful," Harbeck said. The house is on the city's short list to be demolished. 